Sennheiser MOMENTUM Review - Page 32

Playing a Reference Recordings CD of Dick Hyman plays Duke Ellington. Sophisticated Lady sounds sumptuous but not at the level of a HD800 or LCD-3 where if you listen intently, can feel the hands across the piano.  With the Cary 300 tubes, the Momentum sings, very smooth with vocals and the instruments separate themselves in the music.  Very clean and confident with a presentation almost at the level of my Lexus LS Nakamichi sound system.  That has many speakers and a subwoofer, so while the Momentum cannot pound at my stomach or give the impression that I am at the front two rows at the Jazz club, I am a few feet away from the mikes.  

 

After some 4 hours now, with my thin rimmed glasses on, I feel no pain on my temples.  the soft real leather pads gently rest on my ears.  I can hear my wife's summons but the isolation is excellent.  Not used to this level of quietness before with such small headphones.

Edited by paulchiu - 10/20/12 at 2:41pm

Hi paulchiu how do these compare to the HD650 which you also seem to own? And are they for you on or around the ear?

Thanks

wow, i have not worn the 650 forever.  They feel warm and fuzzy, like ear muffs.  OK, seriously, they have a stronger bass and surely more accurate/neutral compared with the Momentum.  I am reminded again why I have not used the 650 for so long now.  The HD800 replaced them as did the LCD-3 replaced my HD800 for most sources.  In the case of the Momentum, it's just so handy.  I will be using these in the subways for sure.  The Shure 535s will still home.

 

Oh yes, the Momentum stays on the head, unlike the Philips Fidelio L1 which can fall off when I run.

 

Oh, the 650 are still somewhat touching parts of my lower ears.

Where the Momentum touches my ears entirely.

The 650 does not seal out ambient sound as well as the tiny Momentum.

 

 

Does boomy mean drowning bass or does it mean enourmous bass impact like I was lead to believe? Because it seems that whenever I see bass headphones with the term "punchy" being used, i tend to immediately forget about them and keep searching.

Is there a thread breaking down the lingo around here? People talk about sparkly highs and I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing.

 

Punchy bass I'd say are what the Sennhieser HD 25-1 ii and the beats solo do. it feels like your ears are under pressure whenever the bass hits. 

 

I don't know how to categorize boomy. 

solo is boomy and muddy, not so much punchy, it doesn't have so much of the edge in the bass

The Denon D7000 bass has weight and good pressure on the ear and face.  The Momentum perhaps has about 1/2 of that sensation.

 

 

 

Can you report how well they isolate in the subway when you have a chance? I use HD25s in the subway while they do a good job, I've always wanted a portable circumaural that can do as good a job.

I've never heard the solos. I just figured punchy bass is a characteristic of on ear headphones like the hd25 and the amperiors. But muddy bass is a beats by dre signature sound so that makes sense.

The denon d600 are boomy and man what a boom. I think sensation is a good word to describe it. You feel the rumble but the problem is the headphones are a bit to airy, not in a good way. I mean the cups don't creat a good seal so you loose the punchyness. The momentums when I tried them out seemed like they had a similar rumble but it wasn't as powerful (at almost half the price it's expected). Next time I go into JR ill spend a little more time with the momentums.

The more headphones I'm trying out the more I am beginning to understand that maybe it's impossible to have it all. You have to sacrifice one aspect of sound to gain another. Oh well. This week I'm going to try the hd 650 with my fiio e17.

Before you think it is impossible, I recommend checking out the M-100.

This is a newbie question, but I'll ask it anyway: I received my Momentums a few days ago as I wanted an alternative to IEMs what worked well with an iPhone. It's more or less my first high-quality headphones. I figured I'd "burn them in", so I simply hooked them up for about 20 hours straight playing random music, but at moderate volume (equivalent to about 1/3 the max setting on the phone). Of course, I then started researching "burn in" on this and other sites, and came up with "must do it" to "won't make a difference" to "don't do it continuously for 20 hours or else you will damage them." Seriously - I don't care if it was a waste of time, but could playing music at moderate volume for 20 hours straight on them actually damage them? (For what it's worth, they sound great. More on that later.) Many thanks in advance.

I leave my headphones on continuously sometimes for days at regular volume.  Don't worry.  As long as you do not over load your headphones, as they do not have fuses like some speakers.

 

 

I really want to but where do i get them besides online?